


This Will Be (an Everlasting Love)

by Heath17_KO5



Category: Women's Soccer RPF
Genre: F/F, i really love their friendships okay?, it's really only background hinted kellex, kobin bros, o'press bros, preath wedding fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-11
Updated: 2019-10-11
Packaged: 2020-12-09 08:13:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,956
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20991683
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Heath17_KO5/pseuds/Heath17_KO5
Summary: Kelley told herself she wouldn’t cry. She’d packed her toast so full of jokes it shouldn’t have been possible for her to cry. But here she is, standing up in front of people she’s known half her life, some of them even longer, and there are already tears in her eyes.“Hi, everyone,” she starts, clearing her throat when her voice cracks. Her eyes meet Alex’s and she sees the way her eyes are glistening from barely contained tears as well, and it centers her just a little. “So, I met Tobin way back when we were still goofy, awkward teenagers at a Youth National Camp and she was the lankiest person I’d ever met…”orKelley relives some memories of meeting Tobin and Christen and the very start of their relationship as she gives the toast at their wedding.orThe Kobin and O'Press bros story.





	This Will Be (an Everlasting Love)

Kelley told herself she wouldn’t cry. She’d packed her toast so full of jokes it shouldn’t have been possible for her to cry. But here she is, standing up in front of people she’s known half her life, some of them even longer, and there are already tears in her eyes. 

“Hi, everyone,” she starts, clearing her throat when her voice cracks. Her eyes meet Alex’s and she sees the way her eyes are glistening from barely contained tears as well, and it centers her just a little. “So, I met Tobin way back when we were still goofy, awkward teenagers at a Youth National Camp and she was the lankiest person I’d ever met…”

.

.

.

She hadn’t liked sleepovers when she was little. She’d been great until it was actually time to go to bed in a strange house with strange sounds and parents that were not hers down the hall soothing reassurances in voices that weren’t the ones she longed to hear, and then she’d had to call her parents to come get her. 

Every single time. 

It’s this thought that echoes through her head as she boards the plane to her first Youth National Camp. Her fingers drum on the arm rest as she looks out the window, her body thrumming with excitement and nerves. What if she’s not good enough? What if everyone there has already been there before? What if they find her boisterous energy annoying instead of endearing? 

In between these concerns bounce images of what could be. What if she scores goal after goal, her teammates lifting her onto their shoulders, chanting her name? What if she impresses the coaches so much she gets called up early to the senior team? She envisions the headline: “Kelley O’Hara: Youngest Player Ever to be Called Up to the US Women’s National Team”. 

And then the worries cycle back through. 

_ What if I can’t handle being away from home like that? _

.

There are so many new faces and so many new names, some of which she’s heard before. She’d done her research before arriving. She’s followed the youth teams for years, ever since she got cut from the ODP freshman year and realized how badly she really wants this. 

And then there’s someone with a shy smile and a warm hand and a WEIRD name and all Kelley can think is “lanky” until the girl giggles, her cheeks flushing pink, her foot reaching out for a ball without her even seeming to be fully conscious of it, and Kelley decides this one she likes. This one has friend potential written all over her. 

“Hey, Tobito! Pass!” she calls out, moving back, the nickname unapproved, but no stranger than her actual name, so Kelley figures why not. She likes giving people nicknames. 

Tobin doesn’t hesitate. She chips up the ball at her feet with pinpoint accuracy and Kelley traps it without a problem. She shoots Tobin a grin and Tobin beams back, and Kelley knows that camp is going to be okay because now - Now she has a friend. 

.

.

.

“For anybody who doesn’t know, Tobin was actually born with a soccer ball attached to her feet.” 

There is a pattering of laughter and some full on guffaws, and Kelley shoots Tobin a grin over the microphone in her hand. Tobin is chuckling and shaking her head, as Kelley has made her do so many times before, but today it’s special. Today with her hair half up, delicate flowers tucked into it. Today with her makeup somehow both understated and perfect, accentuating those gorgeous brown eyes. Today in that simple, white summery dress that is somehow so very Tobin even though Kelley is pretty sure that the last time she actually saw Tobin Heath in anything besides shorts or warm up pants was at someone else’s wedding a few years ago. 

(Today as Tobin’s eyes flick to the love of her life’s and the smile that hasn’t left her face all day long grows even brighter.)

Kelley couldn’t be happier for her. 

“True story. She was a medical marvel, but look how well it’s worked out for her.”

There’s more laughter, and Kelley’s smiling wider now, too, even though she feels the tears still threatening to fall. (She feels the sting from the tears that did fall earlier, though she tried her best to stop them. Thank God Perry had thought to tuck tissues into her dress!)

“So it just made sense that soccer is how I met Tobin. She tries to deny it sometimes, but we were instant best friends at camp, and remember, this was back in the days when cell phones were bulky and the best cell phone game was snake.” 

“You’re old!” Mal calls, earning some laughs from their younger teammates and Kelley sticks her tongue out at them. 

“Snake still stands as one of the best,” Channing counters. 

“Thank you,” Kelley replies with an approving nod. “Anyway, Tobin and I bonded instantly and we kept in touch after camp. We even - and no smart comments from the peanut gallery, please -” Kelley points at the table where Mal, Rose, Sonny, Sammy and Lindsey are sitting, “wrote each other letters from time to time.”

“For the record,” Tobin interrupts, “that was super unhelpful because neither of us was home often enough to get them in a timely manner!”

Kelley nods. “This is true. Not one of our better thought out plans, but who doesn’t like getting mail? Anyway, we both made the roster for the under 20 World Cup in Russia and both of us, not speaking a single word of Russian, thought it would be a great idea to go exploring…”

.

.

.

“No, THAT one.” Kelley points, frustration building in her. Her Irish temper comes out most often on the soccer field, but seriously she’s been trying to ask for the one specific pastry on the far right that looks like it’s got chocolate in it for like ten minutes and the queue behind her is growing longer and the woman behind the counter apparently doesn’t speak a single, solitary word of English. Who doesn’t speak English these days? 

Well, apart from this lady, obviously.

“All the way over there!” Kelley points again, her voice getting louder. 

“Dude, the Russian cops outside are like looking through the window,” Tobin’s voice is low and worried. “Like can you choose something else so we can leave?”

“Tobin it looks so good. I really want that one.” 

“What’s it called?” 

“I don’t know! Do I look like I read Russian?” 

Tobin looks at her, then looks around, then shrugs. “If you get us arrested, dude, I’m never talking to you again.” 

It’s at that moment that someone steps up behind them and says something in what Kelley can only assume is flawless Russian. Recognition dawns on the face of the lady behind the counter, and she shuffles off and gets the exact pastry that Kelley had been pointing at. 

“Finally!” she sighs, then remembers her manners and turns to thank the tall man now standing behind her and Tobin. 

“You are Americans, yes?” the man asks in heavily accented English. 

Kelley and Tobin nod and the woman behind the counter clears her throat impatiently and says something in Russian that ends in Rubles, so it must be the price. Kelley nudges Tobin to pay because she left her wallet back at the hotel and Tobin hadn’t trusted her to hold any of their money anyway. It wasn’t like she wanted to buy EVERY souvenir she saw, so really Tobin was being a LITTLE unreasonable. She and Tobin look hopefully at their new translator friend, who happily supplies them with the amount in English and Tobin pays while Kelley turns back to her conversation with the tall Russian man. 

“You are here for the football?” the man asks. 

“Yep! Two of the USA’s star players right here!” Kelley says, pulling Tobin into a half hug, half chokehold that catches Tobin off-guard and has her nudging Kelley in the side to let go. 

“The tournament hasn’t even started yet,” Tobin points out and Kelley shoots her a look. 

This is their moment to pretend to be stars. Maybe if they say it enough it’ll be true. This is the Youth National Team, after all. Just getting the call up is kind of amazing. The idea that they’ll actually get to play (and they’ve been told, the two of them, that they’ll definitely get minutes) is nothing short of mind-blowing. They might even score goals. 

(God, Kelley hopes she scores at least one. Just one. That’s all she’s asking. One goal at this level, with the world watching...with the Senior National Team watching...It could make her whole career.)

The man smiles and says something that sounds like “Oo-da-chi” and then he adds, “That is how we say good luck here.” 

“Thank you!” Kelley says as Tobin starts to drag her back towards the exit, calling her own, “Thanks!” over her shoulder. 

They’re down the street a little bit, nibbling their goodies and sipping their to-go coffees with plans to maybe try to see the Kremlin from the outside when the tall man steps out of the store and the police who had been lingering near the door step back warily. The tall man greets them in a friendly way, wrapping an arm around one of them in a way that Kelley is sure is not really an approved way to treat Russian police. It’s when they seem to exchange something between their bodies that Tobin coughs beside her and smacks her on the back. 

“DUDE!” she splutters when she’s stopped choking a moment later. 

Kelley kind of grabs for her because she has an inkling about what Tobin is about to say and it’s absolutely insane, but also probably true. 

“Dude, you were just talking to the Russian mob!” 

“No. He’s just...a nice guy. He’s just -”

The man heads off with a broad grin and a wave back at the police and Kelley knows. She KNOWS Tobin is right. 

“Shit!”

.

.

.

“Honestly, the fact that you two haven’t ended up in jail or worse,” Tobin’s mom laughs with a shake of her head. 

Kelley’s mom has said the same before. She’s pretty sure their moms have had phone conversations about it, commiserating on their intelligent daughters who sometimes just don’t use their brains. 

“We’re quick on our feet,” Kelley replies with a wink. 

“She means they’ve run from the cops,” Sonny calls out to a chorus of laughter. 

Kelley doesn’t have to admit that she’s right. 

“ANYWAY, Tobin was one of the first people I told that I was picking Stanford, after my family, and her comment was ‘But you could have gone to UNC with me!’”

There’s more laughter. Ash and Kling cheer as Kelley pretends to act offended. Tobin is giggling harder now and Kelley turns her eyes to the lady sitting next to Tobin, fingers laced together with hers, smile so dazzling it probably outshines the stars tonight. There’s a rush of warmth that floods through Kelley as more memories come back to her. 

“Little did she know how much she was going to thank me for my school choice later on.”

.

.

.

“Okay, but we’re not even going to play each other unless we make it to like the championships,” Tobin complains. 

Kelley tucks her phone into her shoulder so that she can use two hands to straighten the poster of Mia Hamm she’s putting up in her dorm room. 

“Did you HAVE to pick a school that’s in a completely different conference than me? Casey was smart. She picked UNC. Stanford isn’t even KNOWN for being a soccer school.”

Kelley sighs. They’ve been over this before, and it’s way too late to change her mind now, but there is a slight little niggling of doubt at Tobin’s words nonetheless. “Yeah, but I really liked the girls on the team here, and it’s California! Sun! Surf!”

“Do you even surf?”

“Not yet, but now I can learn!”

“You know North Carolina ALSO has beaches,” Tobin counters. 

“Yeah, but it’s Cali! Come on!”

Tobin sighs. “It just would’ve been cool to play together more often.”

“Yeah, well, here’s hoping we both make the roster for the Pan American games next summer.”

“And camps before,” Tobin adds. 

“And Stanford can always kick UNC’s butt in the College Cup!” 

Tobin laughs. “You wish, O’Hara.”

She does wish, but she laughs along anyway. “You could always transfer to Stanford when it turns out we’re the better team.”

“Or you could transfer here.”

“But California and surfing and sun! The Beach Boys wrote songs about here for a reason. Who writes songs about North Carolina??”

“Someone probably,” Tobin retorts, and she’s probably right, but there’s also probably a reason Kelley can’t name any off the top of her head. 

“How’ve your practices been so far?” Kelley switches topics. 

“Honestly? Intense. It’s a whole new level here. I mean coming off the World Cup probably makes it not as bad, but it’s definitely not like home in Jersey. There are so many REALLY GOOD players. It’s weird already having missed some of the season, too, cause of the World Cup. I just hope I get some starts.”

“Yeah, I know what you mean.”

She really, really does. 

.

They shouldn’t have worried. 

Kelley scores in her first weekend playing. By the end of the season, Kelley leads the team in points (20) and goals (9). 

Tobin scores in her first game off the bench and then starts the remaining 22 games of the season. Kelley watches every one she can, cheering loudly despite her roommate’s protests. 

Kelley makes a point of making sure that she has more points and more goals at the end of the season. 

Tobin says, “Told you so,” when Stanford doesn’t even make it to the semis of the College Cup. 

The Tar Heels do. 

The Tar Heels win. 

Tobin gets named to the All-tournament team. 

Kelley pretends she wasn’t cheering for her the next time they talk and she mutters a begrudging, “Congrats on not sucking.” 

.

The Pan American cup feels like the big leagues in a way that college soccer and even the U-20 World Cup didn’t. The US only sends their U-20 team, and Tobin and Kelley sit together on the buses to and from practices and games, aware that they’ll be facing some countries senior teams. 

They laugh and they play games and they pretend like the nerves aren’t getting to them. They’re practically veterans on the U-20 team, having played in Russia last summer. 

Casey’s always nearby, too. A familiar face and an old friend that it’s nice to have around, although every once in a while something akin to jealousy twinges in Kelley when Tobin and Casey laugh about something that she wasn’t there to be a part of, going to school across the country from them. 

Cheney’s there, too, and Kelley and Tobin listen in awe as she tells them about her first caps for the full senior team. Cheney’s living their dream come true and playing with someone who’s done it, who’s gotten the call up and made the leap, it makes it feel a little more attainable to both of them.

They play their hearts out and they both score goals throughout the tournament. (Kelley scores three to Tobin’s one, and Kelley tries really hard not to rub it in TOO too much. The way that Tobin doesn’t talk to her for half a day after her third goal, though, suggests that maybe she kind of failed at that.) 

They face Canada and Christine Sinclair in the semis and Cheney scores twice to give them a 2-1 win. 

Kelley’s not sure she’s ever screamed so loud in her life as she does at Cheney’s second goal. Tobin is clinging to her, smacking her on the back way too hard and pointing, fingers gripping her arm way too tight, and Kelley doesn’t even care. 

By contrast, they’re deathly silent, heads hanging low, as they leave after Brazil crushes them 5-0 in the final. They faced a deep senior team and Marta...well, Marta lived up to her hype. The silver medals in their pockets do little to repair their heartache. 

.

At the airport, Kelley hugs Tobin tight. She’s had plenty of good friends. She’s had a few best friends. She’s had and still has amazing teammates. 

She’s only ever had one Tobin. 

A Tobin friendship is a special friendship. 

“Love you, buddy. Can’t wait to kick your ass in the College Cup next year.” 

“Just try to make it there this time,” Tobin retorts. She holds on for another few seconds before she lets Kelley go. “Don’t let some younger, faster freshman take your spot on the team!” she hollers over her shoulder as she heads to her gate. 

.

Christen Press is both younger and faster. Tobin’s words echo in Kelley’s head right up until the point when she actually meets Christen. 

Christen is gorgeous. She’s genuinely fucking stunning. 

It’s Kelley’s first thought when she meets the new freshman forward. She wants to be threatened by her. She’s got serious skills. Kelley looked up her high school club team. It’s just that in addition to being ridiculously good-looking, she’s also really, really nice. Not in a fake way. She’s legitimately one of the nicest people Kelley has ever met. 

She’s also, Kelley quickly learns, one of the most competitive people that Kelley has ever met. 

That works out just fine on the field. 

It also is maybe a tiny bit detrimental off the field like on the night when they drink way too much because neither of them will back down from a beer pong tournament. Or the flip cup tournament the weekend after. 

After the quarters tournament, the team makes a rule that Christen and Kelley are only ever allowed to play on the SAME team. Never against each other. 

The coaches find out about the rule after the first scrimmage where they don’t get teamed up together and both come away with more bruises than normal. 

Kelley likes Christen. 

Kelley likes Christen a whole lot. 

She’s like the little sister she never had. 

.

.

.

“I met Christen my sophomore year at Stanford, and this bright, excitable, kinda okay freshman soccer player simply idolized me, so naturally I had to take her under my mature, experienced wing.” 

Quite a few people scoff. Most people chuckle. 

Christen throws a napkin at her. 

Kelley shoots her a wink and blows her a kiss. 

Tobin laughs and rolls her eyes. 

“She likes to say she kept me on my toes, pushed me to be an even better player and up my game because hers was so good, but we know it’s the other way around really,” Kelley continues to more chuckles and Sonny heckling, “Yeah right!” while A-Rod calls, “In your dreams, Kel!”

Kelley waves both comments away. She meets Alex’s eyes again, and Alex is grinning wide. She shoots Kelley a wink, and Kelley’s pulse begins to race, just a little. 

“And apparently Miss Heath, there, had secretly been watching all of my college games, so after my first game with Pressy over there, I get a call saying, ‘Hey, tell me about your new teammate.” 

“That’s not how I remember it happening,” Tobin protests. 

Okay, maybe Kelley’s exaggerating for the sake of the story, but she’s not that far off the mark. 

.

.

.

There’s a natural bond with Christen on the field. It makes Kelley feel unstoppable, like they can take on the world. If she’s not scoring off an assist from Press, she’s assisting her in scoring. It doesn’t take long for them to cement themselves as starters together and Kelley can feel Stanford upping their game around them. Home games that were mostly empty her freshman year are starting to have a fan presence. It feels good. 

Kelley smiles every time she steps out onto the pitch, and these days Christen is smiling back at her and it feels right. This is what she was meant to do. This is where she was meant to play. 

“We’re still gonna beat you. History is on our side,” Tobin informs her. “And you have to actually make it to the Cup this year.”

“Don’t be jealous just because Christen and I are unstoppable,” Kelley replies, sticking out her tongue. It’s a shaky video feed because the campus internet isn’t that amazing, but msn video messenger is still a step up from a normal phone call. For starters, now Tobin can see every time Kelley rolls her eyes at her. 

“Christen, Christen, Christen. Do you know you have barely told me a story that has not mentioned her name this year?” Tobin points out. 

“Well, that’s cause she’s my buddy.”

Tobin gives her a look. She knows full well what the look means, but Tobin is way off base. It’s not like that. Christen is her best friend at school. She’s as close to a Tobin as she’s ever found, while simultaneously being nothing like her. If Christen had been along with them in Russia (and she’s sure as hell good enough, so Kelley doesn’t really know why she hasn’t gotten called up yet) then they would have had an itinerary on their random day of exploring, and Christen would’ve known enough of the language to communicate for them. Christen is a planner while she and Tobin are much more “go with the flow”ers. It works, though. There’s a drive in all three of them that’s so palpable that Kelley can actually feel it, and it fuels them all to the same goal, to the same love. 

“Buddy? Or BUDDY?” Tobin asks, wiggling her eyebrows at her second use of the word. 

“I don’t know. Are you my buddy or my BUDDY?” Kelley shoots back, mimicking Tobin. 

Tobin’s nose wrinkles and she grimaces. “Gross.”

“Hey, I’m a hot piece of ass, thank you very much.” 

There’s the other nagging thought at the back of her mind. It’s something she tries not to think about too much. It gives her anxiety when normally she likes to think of herself as a happy-go-lucky kind of person. It’s the girl thing. She’s not - It’s not that straight forward, and she doesn’t - 

She’s not sure about anything yet. 

It’s thoughts and feelings, but nothing with a name yet.

“Besides…” she starts to try to express her doubts to Tobin, but Tobin must just know, she must see it on her face, because she’s backing away from the subject with a laugh, like it was all a joke anyway. 

“I know, I know. It was just a joke. I’m glad you’ve finally got a friend at school.”

“Heeeeey! I have lots of friends!”

Tobin laughs and Kelley knows she was only trying to get a rise out of her, but Tobin’s laugh is so infectious that she finds herself laughing along anyway. 

“Jerk,” she adds, and Tobin only laughs harder. 

“So when do I get to meet this Christen? Is she invited to any of these video chats?” Tobin asks. “I wanna tell her to her face that she’s a better player than you.” 

Kelley flips Tobin off and replies with, “Nah, she’s too cool for you. Sorry, bud.”

“She’s fast.”

The comment throws Kelley a bit. “What?” How would Tobin know unless - 

Kelley’s grin threatens to split her face in two it’s so wide. 

“You watch my games.”

Tobin squirms uncomfortably. “No I don’t. I caught the end of your last one by accident.”

“You LOVE me.” 

Tobin rolls her eyes. “Whatever.”

“You do! You love me and you watch my games!” 

Tobin rolls her eyes again. “You need to work on shots with your left leg.”

That is all the confirmation Kelley needs. “YOU LOVE ME AND YOU WATCH MY GAMES! I FEEL SO LOVED TOBITO!”

“I’m hanging up now.”

“SO MUCH LOVE!”

“Goodbye!”

.

Tobin meets Christen via video messenger by accident. 

Or, well, really it’s because Kelley is not great at schedules all the time, while Christen is VERY good at schedules, so she shows up at Kelley’s room on time and Kelley is sprawled on her bed talking to Tobin, thinking she still has another half an hour before she even has to start to get ready for team dinner. 

“Kelley!” Christen exclaims with a roll of her eyes. 

Kelley checks her watch. “I thought I had to start getting ready at 5.”

“No. We’re supposed to LEAVE for the RESTAURANT at 5,” Christen corrects. 

“Shit,” Kelley mumbles as Tobin asks, “Who’s that?” She’s moving sideways and craning her neck as if she’ll somehow be able to see around Kelley’s computer screen without Kelley moving the camera. 

“Christen.”

“Who’re you talking to?” Christen asks moving into view, and Kelley really needs to get ready and her mind is on what she might wear and how fast she can possibly shower, but she doesn’t miss the sharp intake of breath when Christen sees Tobin on her screen. 

Kelley’s eyes flit from Christen to the screen and she sees Tobin frozen, just for a moment, and she’s 90% sure it’s not the internet’s fault. 

“Hey, I’m Tobin.”

“Tobin Heath,” Christen says almost at the same time, and Tobin blushes slightly. 

Kelley needs to get dressed. She needs to get ready to go. 

Not as badly as she suddenly needs to watch this exchange, though. 

Christen seems to realize what she just blurted out and she ducks her head and blushes, too, and Kelley just grins. 

“Oh, you’ve heard of her?” Kelley asks. She knows Christen has. From her, but also because Christen is exactly the type of diligent player who follows other players, who watches the U-20 World Cup, and the Pan American Games, and every other piece of soccer she can get her hands on because watching and studying makes her better and because it’s good to know who else is out there. 

Christen shoots her a suspicious look. “You’ve mentioned her once or twice,” she points out. 

“Only once or twice, Kel? I’m kind of offended!” Tobin teases, but when Kelley turns her attention to the screen she realizes that Tobin is definitely not looking at her. 

“She’s mentioned you a lot. Pretty sure she’s your biggest fan,” Christen says, clearly trying to get back at Kelley for something. 

“Friend. Biggest friend. No, wait, BEST friend. That’s what you mean,” Kelley corrects. 

Christen laughs, and Kelley looks at Tobin, sees her see Christen’s smile. Tobin’s smiling too. 

_ This is great _ , she thinks.  _ This is amazing. _

_ This is gonna be so much fun. _

.

“Why are we sneaking into Cal’s gym again?” Christen asks. 

“We gotta,” Kelley replies. She’s been over the plan. It’s nothing too dangerous, really. Nothing too big. It’s a prank. A little prank. It’ll be funny. It’s not vandalism. It’s not destruction of property. It’s some plastic wrap across a doorway or two.

“We gotta get arrested?” Christen suggests. 

Kira, at least, is more than happy to be in on it, and she had been the one to prop the window open earlier in the day when they were using the Cal facilities. She’s also the one who’s tall enough to give Kelley a good boost to get inside. It’s a bit of a tight fit and Kelley might end up with a bruise on her side, but it’ll be so worth it when someone walks into the plastic wrap tomorrow. So SO worth it. 

Kelley pulls herself the rest of the way through and then drops to the ground with a thud. She waits a second in the darkness of the gym, the moonlight trickling through the windows making the weight machines cast long, strange shadows. There are no other sounds. The coast is clear. Kelley does a pull up to the window and peers through at her two teammates who are along for the ride. 

“We’re not going to get arrested,” Kelley assures them. “Come on.” 

Christen sighs and rolls her eyes, but then Kelley hops back down and waits, and a few minutes later, Christen is through the window and landing gracefully beside her. 

“My parents are not going to be amused if I end up calling them from jail tonight because of you, Kel.” 

Kira tosses the rolls of plastic wrap up and through the window, then hoists herself up and through, joining them a moment later. 

“Nobody is making any phone calls from jail. Relax. You and Tobin always think I’m going to get you arrested.”

It’s just the slightest of mentions, and Kelley hasn’t really thought through it, but the way that Christen falters, just for a second, her body freezes, her expression seems almost like it’s unsure of what it’s meant to be doing...It’s enough. It’s just a little bit more of a hint that what Kelley suspects is indeed the case. 

“When did Tobin think you were going to get her arrested?” Christen asks, and her voice is telling, too. It’s like she’s trying just a little too hard to sound disinterested. 

Kelley waves the question away as she starts to unroll some of the thin plastic wrap, careful just to touch the very corners. Kira helps, while Christen watches. 

“Oh, in Russia one time, and then once or twice on off days from camps.” 

“You almost got arrested in RUSSIA?” Christen demands, her voice a little too loud, echoing around the otherwise still weight room. 

They all freeze and wait, but there’s no indication that anyone in the building heard, so Kelley and Kira resume setting up the plastic wrap exactly where people are least apt to notice it, but most apt to encounter it: between the handles of one machine, across an open doorway to an attached room, between two machines that are far enough apart people will definitely try to walk between them. 

“No. I almost didn’t get a chocolate pastry in Russia. Tobin just overreacted. And then maybe, possibly, we had a Russian mob encounter, but he was really very nice and we got home safe, so I really don’t know why Tobin still holds that over my head.” 

Christen gapes at Kelley, then closes her mouth, furrows her brows, and pinches the bridge of her nose. “You know? I really shouldn’t be surprised, should I?” 

Kelley grins and pats her on the back. “That’s the spirit. Here help us.” She hands her one end of the plastic wrap, then she freezes as brilliance strikes. “OH MY GOD! You know what we should do?” 

Christen is already shaking her head like she knows she doesn’t want to go along with it, but there’s a smile on her face and Kelley knows she’ll do it. 

“How hilarious would it be if we saran wrapped Ali and Hillary’s cars together?”

Christen is laughing despite herself, and Kelley knows she’s in. They can’t do it right away though. They’ll need this plastic wrap incident to fade from recent memory first. 

“What would Tobin say if she were here?” Christen asks. 

Kelley grins. “She’d be in.”

Christen rolls her eyes. 

.

.

“Now Pressy may seem all calm, and centered, and cool-headed, like the perfect little ray of sunshine on first glance, but if you’re here at her wedding, you probably know better.”

The laughter from Christen’s dad is especially loud and Kelley shoots him a wide grin. He winks back at her, and Kelley briefly feels emotions well up again, as flashes of warm hugs after college games and reassuring words after tough days when she was too far away from her own home and her own parents run through her mind. The empty spot beside him makes her heart ache both for her own memories and for her friend’s loss. 

“Christen Press is one of the most competitive people I’ve ever met -”

“You’re one to talk, O’Hara,” Christen interrupts, and Kelley simply shrugs with a smile because, well, she’s not wrong. 

“She appears innocent on the surface, and then when she’s lulled you into a false sense of security, her mischievous side comes out to play.”

“Learned it all from you,” Christen cuts in again, and this time Christen definitely IS wrong. 

“Let me tell you all, about the blue fish/white fish incident, and how it definitely was NOT all my idea.”

.

.

.

“She’s going to freak.”

There’s this devilish little smile on Christen’s face as she says it that completely undermines the disapproving tone of her voice. 

Kelley grins. “Exactly.”

“We have to make it a drastic change, though. They can’t be similar. Like a completely different color.”

“You’re secretly evil, aren’t you Turtle.”

Christen groans. “Don’t call me that.”

“Sure thing, Turtle.”

“I’M GETTING BETTER AT HEADERS!”

“You are,” Kelley concedes. “But it’s still amusing.”

Christen rolls her eyes, but doesn’t address it. Instead she says, “Aren’t there white ones?”

Kelley doesn’t follow, her mind still stuck on teasing Christen. “White headers?”

Christen gives her a withering look, and, okay, maybe she deserves this one. “Betta fish?” Christen suggests pointedly. 

Realization dawns and Kelley can already picture the scene, the alarm, the screeches, the freaking out. It’s going to be glorious. 

Kelley takes Christen’s face between her hands and kisses her forehead. “Pressy, you are a genius!”

They’ll keep her actual fish safe of course. And then they can have a new team pet afterwards! It’s perfect. 

.

The silent treatment Kelley gets for the week after is 100% worth it. She doesn’t sell Christen out as her co-conspirator, but they DO watch the video that Christen took approximately 100 times in the quiet of Kelley’s room, laughing every time. 

She gives Christen Tobin’s number so she can send it to her, too. 

She’s definitely not oblivious to the way that Christen suddenly texts a lot more often. 

.

Even though Kelley’s been called up to the Senior Team camp, Tobin gets called up to play for them first and Kelley tries not to be jealous. She is genuinely happy for her and she full on squeals when Tobin calls her to tell her, awe still in her voice, like she can’t quite believe it. 

“Knew you had it in you, buddy!” Kelley declares, and she’s being honest. She did know. She DOES know. Tobin’s been killing it this year. Kelley has seen her kill it over and over again in person. She already doesn’t have enough fingers for the number of times Tobin has nutmegged her over the years (although she has for sure gotten her back at least five times by now). 

“I mean, maybe I’ll spend the whole tournament on the bench,” Tobin says, clearly trying to keep herself grounded. 

“You’re gonna play.” There is no doubt in Kelley’s mind. Tobin is going to play and Tobin is going to be amazing. Tobin is going to work her footwork magic and keep balls inbounds that should be out and she’s going to chip balls over defenders and meg them and make them look silly even if they’re at the top of their game. It’s who Tobin is. She was meant to play this game. 

“You’re gonna get your first cap next.” Tobin says it without an ounce of pity in her voice and with the same confidence that Kelley had said Tobin was going to play. She’s not trying to make Kelley feel better, and Kelley knows it. 

It hits her square in the chest with emotion, and she doesn’t really like getting sappy and emotional. “Yeah, well,” she says instead of addressing it properly, “they save the best for last.”

Tobin laughs, that genuine infectious laugh of hers, and Christen walks into the locker room just then, so Kelley decides it’s best to hand off the phone. 

“Hey, Tobin’s got something to tell you!” she says, not even warning Tobin of the hand off. 

She watches as Christen’s brows furrow as she puts the phone to her ear. She listens to the tentative, “Hello?” She watches Christen’s entire face light up, her green eyes sparkling in the flourescent lights of the locker room yet somehow not nearly as dazzling as the smile that breaks across her face. There’s a squeal and a “Oh my GOD, that’s AMAZING!” and Kelley grins and walks away. She’ll get her phone from Christen later. 

(If Christen can be that happy for Tobin when she still somehow hasn’t been called into camp even, then Kelley can sure as hell be ecstatic for her.)

.

.

.

“When Tobin got her first senior cap in China, Christen and I skipped class to watch on a grainy feed. My suitemates came to check on us after Tobin’s first touch because apparently we screamed a little loud or something.” 

Kelley hears Christen’s laugh. She knows exactly what she’s remembering. She remembers it, too. The way they’d clung to each other in excitement. The way Kelley had pointed at her screen so hard she’d almost knocked her computer over shouting, “THAT’S MY FRIEND! THAT’S MY FRIEND!”

Any jealousy had evaporated the second Kelley had seen Tobin walk out. Excitement and determination had taken its place. She’d decided right then and there that someday she and Tobin and Christen were all going to be on the team together, they were going to get to walk out of the tunnel together and hear the national anthem together and play together, all three of them. 

And they did. World Cups and Olympics and years and years of friendship, sometimes as teammates, sometimes not. 

Standing here today, surrounded by friends she’s known, many for over a decade, a few for almost two, friends that have truly become her family, celebrating true love...Yeah, this is better than she dreamed it could have been. 

“And of course Tobin had to be all talented and get put on the roster for the Olympics at 20, the youngest of only three college students on the team.”

“Whoo! New Kids!” A-Rod cheers. 

“More like Old Kids!” Mal counters. 

“Hey!” Tobin complains, but the smile on her face is so wide Kelley knows that nothing at all could damper her mood today. 

“Christen and I made our whole team watch every game with us and I’m pretty sure everyone started wearing earplugs like on game two.”

Kelley glances at Christen who laughs and nods, her fingers laced tightly through Tobin’s as if they can’t not touch for a single second today. Kelley gets it. She really does. She’s never seen love quite like theirs before. It makes her smile just to see it. 

“Anyway, clearly all the fame didn’t lessen how much Tobin missed being near me because she decided she just HAD to come play on Pali Blues with me the summer of our junior year and she insisted that we live together. I know I’m irresistible, Tobs, but Christen was already smitten, you know.”

Tobin cackles and Christen takes Tobin’s napkin and throws it at Kelley as Kelley grins at them. 

“That was, of course, the REAL beginning of their story. You should have seen these two lovesick idiots. I felt like I was back in middle school watching them crush on each other.”

.

.

.

“You know you can just live with us, too,” Kelley points out. It’s not a big place, but the couch is pretty comfy, and honestly Christen has spent more than a few nights there already. 

Kelley isn’t fooled as to why, although anytime Tobin references it, a faint blush gracing her cheeks, Kelley pretends that it’s because Christen just misses her SO very much when they’re not at school together. 

“I don’t surf,” Christen says instead of giving her a proper answer, and Kelley notes the color darkening her cheeks as her eyes dart down the hall towards Tobin’s room. 

“Which I still do not understand. Christen you GREW UP in California!”

“Not everybody from California surfs!” she replies defensively. 

It’s an argument they’ve had a lot before, and one Kelley is sure they’ll have again until either she or Tobin wears Christen down and gets her surfing. “Anyway, you like the beach.” 

“Not as much at 6 a.m.”

“Honestly the fact that Tobin and I are at the beach that early is a testament to our love of surfing.”

“Maybe you’re going into the wrong career,” Christen teases. 

Kelley gives her a playful shove. “Look, I’m just saying that Tobin probably wouldn’t hate it if you were here more often.” 

Christen looks at her, then, something akin to hope glistening in her eyes, and honestly it’s a little ridiculous that the two of them have not figured out that they like each other yet. 

(Then again, maybe Kelley shouldn’t be judging about how long it takes to figure things out because lately she’s been thinking more and more - Or REALIZING more and more, really, the way that her eyes linger longer on certain people than on others, or the way she feels more at ease in certain people’s company. 

She’s been realizing that as much as she loves her two best friends and is entertained by them being idiots, a tiny part of her is jealous that they seem to have this part of themselves worked out.)

“She would?” 

Kelley resists the urge to roll her eyes. “Of course. She thinks you’re cool. Not as cool as me, obviously, but, like, cool enough.”

_ She’s fucking smitten, _ she wants to say, but she’s a good friend and as much as these two need to get together already, she’s not the type to expose someone’s personal thoughts and feelings. 

Christen laughs and shakes her head. “Sure, Kel.” She hesitates then, and Kelley can practically see the wheels turning in her head as she taps at her lips. “Maybe I’ll stay with you guys all of next weekend and watch your game and stuff?” Christen suggests. 

“You’d better root for us!” Kelley warns. 

“Nah. Who’re you playing? LA right? I’m gonna have to root for the Strikers.” 

Kelley narrows her eyes at Christen, then stands and heads to the kitchen to make herself a snack. “Hope you’re good with sleeping outside, Turtle!” she calls over her shoulder as Christen’s musical laughter echoes around the apartment. 

.

Tobin’s the first person she tells. It’s almost experimental to say it out loud, but with Tobin - With Tobin it’s safe. 

Night surfing is maybe not their safest idea ever, but the beaches are less crowded and they catch some good waves, and there’s something so magical about the water at night, the moonlight glistening against the surface of the water, the way every sound feels amplified. Kelley swears she can FEEL the waves better at night. And at least they’re going together. They’re not complete idiots. They’re surfing with a buddy. 

It’s late night and the beach is all but deserted and the moon is full and high in the sky casting a beautiful, almost unearthly glow around everything, and Tobin is just so chill and laid back and nonjudgmental. 

She kind of blurts it, really, without thinking it through fully. 

“I think I like girls.”

Tobin kind of peers sidelong at her for a second, her expression hard to read, and then she says, “I KNOW you like girls.” 

Just like that it’s okay. This pressure that Kelley hadn’t realized had been living in her chest is gone, and she feels like she can breathe deeply for the first time in months. She lets out a bark of laughter and gives Tobin a playful shove as Tobin chuckles. 

“Shut up,” Kelley replies, a grin wide across her face. 

“I mean, I like girls, too, so it’s cool,” Tobin adds, looking out at the sea. 

Kelley rolls her eyes. “Yeah. I’m not an idiot. I have met you. I have eyes.” 

Tobin laughs, then, and nudges Kelley’s leg with her elbow. “Shut up.” 

“I mean, like, I’ve spent all summer in an apartment with you with Christen visiting like every other week.” 

Tobin sits up a little straighter at Christen’s name. 

“What’s Chris have to do with anything?” 

Kelley wants to through her head back and sigh dramatically. She wants to roll her eyes so hard they might never recover. She wants to smack her best friend upside the head and make her admit her feelings. She does none of those things. 

“Oh, I don’t know. Just seems like you two are getting pretty close, that’s all.” 

Even in the moonlight, Kelley can see Tobin blushing. 

Tobin tries to shrug off the statement, though. “She’s cool. We’re just friends, though. I mean, besides, we’re going back to college across the country from each other soon, so even if I- What would be the point, you know?”

Kelley doesn’t think that these crushes that her friends very definitely have are the type of thing to let long distance get in the way, but she’s just admitted her attraction to girls out loud for the first time just before her 21st birthday, so what does she know? “I guess.”

Tobin lays back on her towel and looks up at the stars and Kelley flops down beside her, leaning her head against Tobin’s arm. 

“You should totally transfer to Stanford for this year, though. Just saying.”

Tobin laughs. “No way. Back to back championships, baby. That’s what we’re going for.” 

“Mmmm...no. Sorry. It’s just, Stanford is totally going to take the College Cup this year.”

“Sorry, who won last year? And who went out in the semis? Which of us lost to Notre Dame?” 

Kelley whacks Tobin’s arm with her head. 

“Ow!” Tobin remarks, but Kelley knows it wasn’t THAT hard. Besides, bringing up the loss to Notre Dame was uncalled for. 

“Yeah, well, maybe you’ll get so many call ups to national camp that your team will just suck,” Kelley retorts. 

“Awww, are you admitting I’m the best player?”

“No,” Kelley replies. “Definitely not.”

“It kind of sounded like that was what you were saying.” 

“Clearly you got too much water in your ears when that last wave took you out.” 

“No. I’m hearing just fine, Kel. You said -”

Tobin devolves into laughter as Kelley slams her hand over Tobin’s mouth to shut her up. 

She’s really going to miss this idiot next year. 

.

The Tar Heels take the College Cup. 

The loss stings like no other so far in Kelley’s career. They’d had the PERFECT season. They’d gone into the game 20-0-0. The whole time the knowledge that this is the last game of her college career was weighing in the back of her mind. 

The game was miserable, rain soaked, and grey. Kelley and Christen had barely seen the ball in the first half and when Jess McDonald had scored after the Tar Heels had pressured them seemingly nonstop, it was hard not to let her spirits match the weather. 

They’d tried so hard to come back in the second half. They’d brought all the energy they could muster and they’d fought and fought, 

And then Engen had cleared yet ANOTHER ball and Kelley had just lost it. It was a foul. She couldn’t argue that, but she was just so sick of all of their attacks being stopped. She just wanted one more ball in the back of the net. 

It was her second yellow, though, so she’d had to come off, and then Christen -

Kelley had been the first one to her feet when the ball left Christen’s foot. It was a thing of beauty and their last ray of hope, and then the stupid fucking flag had been up. 

Kelley had sworn so loudly that Tobin had made eye contact with her from the field. The smile on her face was apologetic, when it hadn’t had to be. 

If the roles had been reversed, Kelley knows she’d have been too busy celebrating to offer any sympathy. 

It’s Tobin’s smile and the way she pats Christen on the back, knowing the sting of the offsides flag herself. That’s the only reason that Kelley is still speaking to her after the game. 

It’s the only reason that she accepts the offered hug and sinks into it. 

Tobin doesn’t apologize for winning. She shouldn’t really. It’s the way the game works. One team wins, one team loses. Tobin does hold on a few moments longer than anybody else, though, and somehow that takes the sting off just a little. 

(Tobin holds Christen for even longer.)

.

Kelley wins the Hermann Trophy. There’s an award ceremony, and Kelley feels the weight of it, feels the importance of this award in her senior year, feels the doors it could open for her. 

More than anything, Kelley feels just a bit smug that Tobin is sitting on stage beside her as first runner-up. 

She gives a very professional sounding speech and says the obligatory thing about how honored she is to have been selected when there are so many quality players (and none of it is a lie - the game seems to be growing every year and it really is amazing to see). 

She smiles for the cameras and she waits until they are clear of the stage and other people’s prying eyes and then she lifts up her trophy and starts laughing. 

Tobin shoves her, but there’s a smile on her face. 

“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” Tobin is saying before Kelley can even start to gloat. 

“Oh, would you look at that? Whose name is on this trophy?”

“You’re such a jerk,” Tobin mutters. 

“Uh-huh, sure, I mean, admittedly it’s no Olympics Gold Medal, but, huh, somehow this trophy declares me the best collegiate player.” 

Tobin rolls her eyes and shakes her head and pulls Kelley into a tight hug. “You’re okay,” she admits begrudgingly. 

“Sorry, could you say that a little louder? And wait ‘til I have my camera out, please?” 

Tobin pinches her side right where she knows it will tickle and Kelley yelps, but she’s laughing and she feels almost on top of the world as Tobin laughs with her. 

“Think we’ll both get drafted to the WPS?” Tobin asks, still holding on. 

“Hermann Trophy Winner and first runner-up? I mean We gotta.”

She wills her words to become truth, sending a silent prayer to the universe that she knows Tobin is thinking too. 

.

.

.

“And then, even though they liked each other right away, it took actual YEARS before Christen finally made a move. God Bless the 2015 World Cup and Victory Tour.” 

“Amen!” a few people call out, and Kelley hears Channing’s voice in one of them. She shoots Channing a wink and she grins back. 

They’d had more than one conversation back in the day about Christen’s pining. Tyler, had joined in on some of them. When Tobin was dating other people it was always the worst, but even when Tobin was single, Christen was better at pining than doing something about it. 

“I helped too, of course,” Kelley adds. “Someone had to nudge them together and I was sick of waiting.”

.

.

.

“It’s just not the right time,” Christen says and Kelley rolls her eyes for what feels like the tenth time so far this conversation. 

“It’s never the right time according to you,” Kelley argues. 

“Well, it’s not!” Christen shoots back.

Kelley can see her defenses coming up. She’s known her long enough now. She can spot the signs a mile off. Her shoulders are tensing and her fingers are drumming on her knee the way they do when she’s annoyed and that little dimple between her brows is getting more pronounced. Kelley’s done, though. She’s done with the “not right nows” and the “she doesn’t feel the sames”. 

(She’s really done with hearing the exact same excuses from both of them, but not being able to tell the other that.)

“Christen, asking someone out, or declaring your feelings isn’t something you have to put in your damn schedule to do! You don’t have to block out fifteen minutes to say, ‘Hey, Tobs, wanna grab some coffee sometime as more than teammates and friends?’”

Christen looks around sharply, making sure nobody is within earshot (as if Kelley would do that to her), and Kelley rolls her eyes again. 

“We won the World Cup. The Olympics are a year away. You’re on the team TOGETHER. She finally broke up with Shirley-”

“Yeah, exactly. She JUST broke up with Shirley. I don’t want to - I mean, besides it’s not like I - I just -”

“Christen if you’re trying to argue that you don’t like her that much, please remember who you’re talking to.”

Christen’s shoulders slump and a blush spreads across her cheeks. 

Kelley has seen the furtive looks. Kelley has stayed up late having poorly masked conversations about feelings. Kelley has organized group outings in an attempt to take the pressure off a little. Kelley has insisted on movie nights when Tobin was dating other people to take Christen’s mind off of things even though neither of them ever admitted that was why. Kelley has known Christen since she was eighteen and first made contact with Tobin, and she is in no way fooled and Christen knows it. 

(Kelley knows that Tobin was never that serious about Shirley. Shirley was convenient and vaguely her type. Shirley let her interest be known. Sometimes it’s nice to know someone likes you back.)

“Chris, you have been pining over Tobin -”

“I haven’t been pining!” Christen interrupts, but Kelley just holds up her hand and continues. 

“You’ve been pining over Tobin since we were in college. I have never seen someone crush at first sight harder.”

“I have,” Christen says with a glint in her eye and Kelley narrows her eyes at her. 

“You have not,” Kelley counters. 

“You and -”

Kelley slams her hand over Christen’s mouth and Christen licks it. 

“Gross!” Kelley whines, wiping her hand on her jeans. She gives Christen a pointed look. “Just talk to her.”

“She doesn’t even - I mean…” Christen sighs and looks away and Kelley has to keep herself from reaching out and shaking her. 

She knows what Christen thinks and she knows that she could not be more wrong. 

“She doesn’t even think of me like that.” Christen’s voice is barely above a whisper and her expression is so pained that Kelley wants to just blurt everything out, but she also knows (no matter how well it would undoubtedly work out for them) that Tobin would never forgive her. 

“Chris, you’re my best friend -”

“Besides Tobin,” Christen says with a bark of laughter. 

“EXACTLY! I have BOTH of your best interests at heart.” It’s as close as she’ll let herself come to saying something. 

Christen studies her for a long moment, then shakes her head. “I can’t, Kel.” 

Kelley sighs. 

(Later, after Christen has gone back to the room she’s sharing with Becky, Kelley will scream into her pillow.)

.

“Chris looks really good tonight, don’t you think?” 

“Hmm?” 

Kelley resists the urge to smack her best friend on the arm because Tobin’s eyes have barely left Christen for the past half hour. 

“Maybe a little cold, though, in that dress. It’s super cute, but with the wind it’s kinda surprisingly chilly. I expected warmer from New Orleans.” 

“Kel, it’s December.”

“Tobs, Christen looks cold,” Kelley reiterates because, as per usual, Tobin is completely missing the point. 

Tobin’s eyes flick back to Christen so predictably that Kelley just wants to give her a literal shove in the right direction. “You think?”

“Are you cold?” Kelley asks. 

“No, I mean, I’ve got a jacket on and -” 

Kelley swears that she can actually see the lightbulb going off above Tobin’s head as realization dawns. 

“It’s not really that cold. Maybe I’ll just see if..” 

Tobin’s already wandering away before she can finish her sentence, and she’s shrugging out of her jacket before she reaches Christen. 

The offer of it is awkward, but Christen’s face is practically glowing as she lets Tobin slip it around her shoulders, and Tobin’s smile could probably power half the block. 

They’re absolutely fucking ridiculous and if one of them doesn’t make a proper move soon then Kelley is just going to HAVE to do it for them even if neither of them ever talk to her again. She cannot sit by and watch these two idiots be this inept for much longer. 

“Subtle.” 

Kelley turns with a smile at the familiar voice and Alex’s bright blue eyes are trailing over Tobin and Christen. 

“Does she know how possessive she looks standing there like that?” 

“Knowing Tobin? Probably not.”

Alex nods. 

If anyone feels Kelley’s pain with these two, it’s Alex. 

“How hard did you have to nudge her to give Chris her jacket?” 

“Like way too hard. Seriously, I’m at the point of leaving like love notes in their lockers on behalf of each other if they don’t do something soon.” 

Alex laughs in that way that she only does when the cameras aren’t on her, where she’s actually carefree and her head falls back and her eyes scrunch up. Kelley feels warm in a way that has nothing to do with the half drunk hurricane cocktail in her hand. 

She pushes it away. There is only so much room for pining on this team and Tobin and Christen are currently cornering the market. 

“That’s not a horrible idea, you know,” Alex says, still giggling, her eyes turning to Kelley and Kelley has to try not to squirm under the intensity of the gaze.

She grins back. “If it comes to that, I’m gonna need your help.”

Alex sticks out her hand and Kelley shakes it, trying not to notice how warm or how soft it is, trying not to lean in closer to Alex in an obvious way. 

“Deal,” Alex says. 

.

“I’m thinking of maybe flying back to LA with Chris for a bit before Christmas.” 

Kelley fixes Tobin with a hard stare. “Tobin Powell Heath, you could not be MORE obvious if you TRIED!”

Tobin’s cheeks flush an attractive shade of pink. It’s a little unfair that she can be so pretty and so talented with a soccer ball and so dumb about romance. 

“She doesn’t seem to see it.”

“Have you tried...oh, I don’t know...ACTUALLY ASKING HER OUT?” 

They’ve somehow gotten even more ridiculous since the other night. It’s like they physically have to be touching at all times when they’re in the same room. A finger brush here, a hand on an arm there, walking side by side matching each other’s paces on the field. Kelley might actually rip all her hair out. 

Tobin blushes harder. “What if -”

“OH MY GOD, TOBIN!”

Tobin at least has the decency to look a little sheepish. 

Kelley pinches the bridge of her nose and takes a deep breath. “Tobin. Tobito. Tobinho. Tobs. One of my oldest and dearest friends...Do you have actual eyes?”

Tobin’s brows furrow and she laughs softly in a confused kind of way. “Yeah. Obviously.” She gestures to them for emphasis as if Kelley didn’t actually know the answer to this particular question. 

“Okay. Great. Next question: DO YOU KNOW HOW TO USE THEM?”

Tobin looks even more confused. “Yeah, I mean that’s how my passes connect and those goals I score also use my eyes, so -”

Kelley holds up a hand to cut her off and takes a deep breath to keep herself from yelling at Tobin anymore. “Then please, for the love of GOD, use them to look at Christen.”

Tobin’s blush rushes back with a vengeance and Kelley legitimately isn’t sure that she’s seen anyone turn this particular shade of red before. She’s almost tempted to see if she can make it any redder, but honestly this has gone on way too long already. 

“I mean, I DO look at Chris. You know, I - I mean she’s really pretty and -”

“I don’t mean check her out when she’s not looking,” Kelley cuts in. “I mean look at her when she’s looking at you. Tobin -” Kelley takes another deep breath. She’s so close to breaking one of her best friend’s confidences and as stupid as this entire situation is, that just doesn’t sit well with her. “Ask her out before the new year, or I’m going to ask Christen out on a date just so you can see how it’s actually done.”

Tobin laughs, knowing it’s an empty threat. It’s not that Kelley wouldn’t do it, it’s just that Christen would probably double over laughing if she did. 

“Kel, I don’t think -”

“JUST DO IT!”

.

Two days after Tobin goes to LA with Christen, Kelley gets two texts. 

The first is from Tobin and it simply says, “Thanks.”

The second is from Christen and it’s a selfie of her and Tobin smiling brighter than the sun that’s setting behind them. Underneath she writes, “I’ve got a cute date tonight.” 

She texts the same message back to both of them. “Fucking finally!”

.

.

.

“Can I just say that I actually asked her out first?” Tobin cuts in.

“Okay, first of all, I gave you a deadline, and second of all, you only asked her out AFTER she kissed you, so…”

Christen looks a little smug as Sonny and Sammy wolf-whistle and a few others go, “ooOOOoo”. Kelley makes eye contact with Cassius who is sitting in his mom’s lap and making a face, and she has to laugh. 

“The point is, they finally, FINALLY got together. In no small part thanks to moi, the best friend ever.” There’s good-natured laughter and only Allie coughs around a words that sound suspiciously like “That’s me.” 

Kelley takes a deep breath. It’s time for the emotional part. Kelley’s not great at emotional things, even now. She’d much rather make a joke, but sometimes, sometimes the event just calls for it. 

“Seriously, Tobs, Chris, getting the chance to basically grow up with you two has been an honor, and getting to watch this real life love story unfold from the beginning has been incredible. I’ve seen you both through ups and downs, good times and bad, triumphs and disappointments. More importantly, I’ve watched as you two were there for each other, as you learned to work not just as two people who loved each other, but as a pair, balancing each other, playing up each other’s strengths, supporting each other’s weaknesses. I’ve been fortunate enough to see true love a few times in my life -” Kelley can’t stop her eyes from flicking to Alex, and Alex is looking right back at her with a wide smile and a faint blush. “And there is none truer than yours for each other. In fact, I remember when Tobin first told me she thought she was in love with you, Chris. I believe my exact response was, ‘You THINK? I’ve known you’ve been in love with her since college!’’”

Christen laughs and Tobin looks mildly sheepish, but she shoots Christen a blinding smile. 

“I remember when you showed me the ring you’d bought, too. I remember distinctly because it was exactly three weeks after Christen had showed me the ring she had bought to ask you, and I could not stop laughing and you could not figure out why.”

The look that Christen and Tobin shoot each other then could melt hearts. Kelley feels the tears pricking at the backs of her eyes again just from the sheer love contained in their gaze. She swallows it down, though. She’s almost done. 

“I don’t know how many more medals our careers might bring us. I don’t know how many more years of soccer we have in us. I don’t know if you’ll ever get to play on the same club team or if the league will continue to grow as promised. I don’t know that every day will be a good one. I do know one thing, with 100% certainty about the future, though, and that is that your love is going to last forever. I love you both, and I can’t wait to see you take on this new chapter of your lives together.”

Kelley lifts her champagne flute high and everyone else follows suit. “Here’s to the happy couple, Mrs. and Mrs. Heath-Press! May your marriage be a blissful one, may your adventures together be numerous, and for goodness sakes may your lines of communication stay open so that I don’t have to step in again.” 

Everyone laughs as glasses clink and sips are taken, but Kelley feels a tear spill down her cheek as she blinks, and she brushes it away and catches first Tobin’s then Christen’s eye. She can see their younger selves in the grown ups sitting before her, confidence now where awkwardness once was, love where shyness had once won out. 

God she really loves these idiots. The smiles they’re giving her lets her know the feeling is completely mutual. 

She raises her glass again, just to them. “To you,” she mouths. 

They raise their glasses to her and mouth, “Thank you.” 

And then, just because she can and it’s a wedding, she steals Tobin’s fork and taps at her glass. “Come on! Kiss your girl!”

Tobin laughs and leans over capturing Christen’s lips in hers for a quick kiss. Not the first of the day and certainly not the last, but there are whoops and wolf whistles and Kelley’s heart feels full as she makes her way back to her seat and slips her hand into Alex’s. 

There’s a ring at home at the back of her bedside table drawer. Maybe she’s ready to pull it out. 

Maybe. 

There is for sure going to be payback in Christen and Tobin’s toasts at her wedding. 

It’ll be okay, though. 

Kelley has the best friends. 


End file.
